Lakers face Howard, but have moved on

HOUSTON – At the corner of Polk and La Branch streets, Dwight Howard greets visitors to his new home. Three stories tall, pasted to a bank of windows at Toyota Center, the former Lakers center is draped in Rockets red, wide-eyed and mid-dribble, glancing over his right shoulder.

The Lakers, who practiced Wednesday inside the building? Not looking back at all.

Behind Howard is pasted the official slogan of the Houston Rockets: “A New Age.”

The Lakers? Battling old age.

Less than five months ago, it was the Lakers’ home building to which Howard’s likeness had been slapped, along with a plea for the big man to re-sign with the 16-time champions. He, of course, opted instead for a four-year, $88 million deal in Houston to team with James Harden.

It catapulted the Rockets to the top of most Western Conference playoff projections and left the Lakers with three superstars nearer the ends of their careers than the peaks, expectations lower than sea level and a predictable but discouraging 2-3 start to the season.

The Lakers, who are winless on the road, have spent the last several days trying to deflect the focus from Howard and a potentially awkward reunion Thursday at Toyota Center, when the Lakers meet Howard’s Rockets (4-1) for the first time.

“We’d have loved for him to have been here,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said Wednesday, quickly realizing where he was and adding, “in L.A. It didn’t work out. Turn the page and you go on, but that’s about it. We knew there were some problems and we didn’t know which way he’d go.”

Through five games, Howard averages 17.4 points and 14.6 rebounds for the Rockets, up from the 17.1 and 12.4 he averaged in his one season with the Lakers.

Pau Gasol, who struggled in D’Antoni’s system alongside Howard, allowed some measured thoughts on Howard’s departure.

“It was his first time being in a free-agent position,” he said. “He had the freedom to pick his future and he picked it. It wasn’t with the Lakers, it was with the Rockets, so good luck. That was it.”

But it’s no exaggeration to say Howard’s decision will define the next era of Lakers basketball. Even when Kobe Bryant returns from a ruptured Achilles, he will not be far from yielding to a successor.

Not to Howard, with whom Bryant never clicked.

“We have two different personalities,” Bryant told NBA TV on Tuesday. “There’s a certain way I believe you have to approach the game in order to win championships and he had a different way that he felt it worked best. Because of that it was tough to see eye to eye on a daily basis. In the second half of the season I thought we played pretty darn well.”

Gasol recalled an offseason of “uncertainty,” one that came on the heels of a “rough year.” The Lakers finished the year 44-38 but without Bryant were swept out of the playoffs by San Antonio. Howard was ejected in the Game 4 loss, his last with the Lakers.

It was an unthinkable finish for a Lakers team that, with the additions of Howard and Steve Nash, entered the season with aspirations of hanging a 17th banner at Staples Center.

“I was definitely hopeful,” Gasol said, “but I knew there was a lot of work to do. You don’t win games just by showing up on the court and wearing a certain number, a certain name.”

It’s a voice of experience that might offer some perspective for those already penciling the Rockets into the late rounds of the playoffs. Still, little more than one week into the season, the results have been impressive.

Howard has pushed the Rockets into the top five in points, rebounds and field-goal percentage. It creates a daunting matchup for a Lakers team that has struggled defensively and is winless on the road.

It only adds to the drama that when the Lakers arrive at Toyota Center on Thursday, Dwight will be waiting.